Banking on Africa

Opportunity is impacting the lives of 5.2 million clients throughout Africa, 354,557 of which are active loan clients. Our Agriculture Finance program helps empower farmers by providing them with loans and training in modern farming practices. Innovative cell phone and agent banking tools are increasing our rural outreach by bringing the bank directly to the farmer’s field, and we are reaching even more smallholder farmers since launching the initiative in Kenya and Tanzania. Rural families now have accessible and secure banking options for the first time, and cell phone banking gives them 24-7 secure and efficient access to financial services without costly trips to the bank.

In 2014, Opportunity Uganda customized school fee loans for farmer families who earn seasonal income and struggle to keep their children in school between harvests. 41 schools also received school improvement loans to improve sanitation and build new classrooms at their facilities, positively impacting 35,250 students. Opportunity Kenya reached more rural families by launching a new branch in Kisumu, which has rapidly become one of the bank’s most successful branches, providing rice and fish farmers with much-needed financial services. Other branches in Kenya also helped 525 families keep their children in school with school fee loans.

Opportunity Malawi continues to provide a safe way to save for nearly 670,000 families, offering them a safety net of savings through the country’s economic turbulence. Opportunity Tanzania focuses on reaching out to the underbanked in rural regions by providing 120 irrigated rice farmers with loans for inputs and labor and 70 sunflower farmers with loans for their operations. Opportunity Ghana continues to increase awareness about their financial services in rural areas, and their newest bank branch in Tamale opened its doors to 66 loan clients and 177 savers, with the hope of helping many more clients to come.

Opportunity Mozambique has also worked to raise awareness in 25 communities by conducting financial literacy roadshows in rural towns. They expanded their reach to include sesame farmers who represent 26% of the bank’s Agricultural Finance portfolio. Farmers like Isabelle have already benefited from the financial services that Opportunity Mozambique offers. As a mother of six children, she rises at dawn each day to work her farm and to provide for her family. "I used my loan to hire laborers and purchase high quality fertilizer. I learned modern farming practices and exceeded my husband's production, selling 84 bags of soya against 35 bags on the same size plot. My husband has been looking at me differently - with respect and pride," she said. By providing farmers like Isabelle with training and resources to improve their harvests, and by giving families the opportunity to save and invest in their futures, Opportunity is creating holistic change in rural communities throughout Africa. 

Opportunity is impacting the lives of nearly 1.3 million clients and their families across ten countries in Africa. Currently over 200,000 Africans have loans and about one million have voluntary savings accounts.

Opportunity is always looking to improve accessibility to financial services. Mobile money is a tool that provides access to cell phone banking, cashless payment systems and cashless transactions. As of 2014, clients in Malawi, Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania are active mobile money users. Saving the trip to a local branch, mobile money is improving Opportunity’s outreach to rural farmers who are able to access banking services through their personal devices. Plans are underway to expand mobile money offerings so that all of Opportunity’s African clients have access to this valuable tool.

Core Banking System Upgrades are underway in Malawi, Ghana and Rwanda. These upgrades are designed to bring branches up to date with the latest software and technology. Additionally, all of Opportunity’s owned partners in Africa now have access to centralized information technology support based in Ghana. Hundreds of Tanzanian and Ghanaian farmers are benefiting from Field Digital Data Collection tool that maps agricultural plots to determine the appropriate loan size.

Education Finance products are offered in six countries in Africa. School Improvement loans for education entrepreneurs are offered in Malawi, Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya. School fee loans are available to clients Tanzania and the previous five countries. Tertiary loans have been introduced to clients in Ghana and Rwanda and are helping to support individuals seeking higher education. The Education Finance program provides more than just loans. In Ghana, 80% of school proprietor clients have engaged in financial training courses. Additionally, Opportunity Kenya conducted Financial Literacy training courses for 1,050 youths. With the help of education organization Aflatoun, similar courses are now offered to young clients in Uganda and Rwanda to improve financial literacy and encourage commitment to education and employment. The success of the Education Finance program is encouraging; educational loans and training improve the wellbeing of clients and their communities. Opportunity is committed to expanding the Education Finance program to support brighter educational futures for children and their families across Africa.

Links:

• Opportunity Website